Chester C. McGuire Jr., 81

Chester “Chet” McGuire Jr. lost his 14-year battle with cancer on Oct. 13.

Chet had a long and distinguished career in academia, public service and business: He was one of the founders of Berkeley Planning Associates in 1974. He taught courses at UC Berkeley Department of City and Regional Planning on housing and redevelopment, housing market analysis and housing finance and at Howard University on financial markets and quantitative and statistical methods.

He developed affordable housing as Vice President of Winston A. Burnett Construction Co. in San Francisco. He was appointed Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD during the Carter Administration where he was chief civil rights enforcement officer for government housing programs.

Chet was elected to the Board of Directors for AC Transit. He also founded McGuire & Company, an economic consulting firm that worked with many public policy matters regarding transportation, housing, taxation, public works, feasibility analysis, environmental protection and litigation support and expert witness testimony.

Chet was born on Oct. 29, 1936, in Gary, In., to Martha and Chester McGuire, Sr. He attended Roosevelt High School and was one of seven African American men in the Dartmouth College Class of 1958 where he was a member of a fraternity and The Sphinx. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a Lieutenant on battleships and later graduated from the University of Chicago School of Business with an MBA and PhD in Economics.

Chet is predeceased by his son Michael and leaves behind his wife of over 50 years, Julie; two daughters, Gail and Angela; sisters Martha and Jennifer; nephews Darryl and Corey and cousins Sunny and Joseph. The funeral service will be held at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland at 1:30 p.m.